Comments below... ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> wrote :
Judy, Jesus said many mysterious ideas in his teachings. IMO, he was conveying the idea of consciousness as the basis of everything to ignorant people, including the apostles, at that time. I'm not contesting this, John. It's just that in this particular verse, the context and the original language strongly suggest that "among you" or "in your midst" is the more accurate translation than "within you." For this reason, the Jews conspired to have the Romans kill him by crucifixion on a wooden cross. (What other kind of cross would they have crucified him on??) More likely, it was because he was understood to be claiming to be God, which was blasphemy as far as the Jews were concerned (still is). As far as the Romans were concerned, he was a troublemaker and potentially a threat to Roman rule. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : Nope. "But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Luke 12:31). Matthew has "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness..." (6:33). Again, Nabby, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, who he thought were spiritually corrupt and incapable of entering the Kingdom of God. "Within" only works if you wrench the verse out of context. His whole point was that he, Jesus, represented the Kingdom of God, and the Pharisees were so spiritually blind they couldn't recognize him as such even though he was "in the midst of" or "among" them, right in front of their very eyes, talking to them. If you want to make a "threat to the Church" case, fine, but you can't legitimately use that verse to do it. Maharishi meant well, but he was no Bible scholar, and he goofed badly on that one. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : Isn't it in Lukas somewhere it says "Seek yea first the kingdom of heaven within......" ? Among turned up in newer translations probably because the "within" was confusing since they have no idea what that is supposed to be. Also, someone who sought "within" would be a threat to the Church knowing he would not find a way to "it" in their teachings. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : P.S.: The complete sentence is, "The Kingdom of God is within/among/in the midst of you"--"you" meaning the Pharisees. You can't leave off the "you" without seriously misrepresenting what Jesus was saying. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : Actually, there's major scholarly disagreement with the translation "within." Jesus was directly addressing the Pharisees, after all, not making a general statement; and he'd made it crystal clear that he thought they were corrupt inside and out. Just contextually, it's extremely unlikely he was saying the Kingdom of God was "within" the Pharisees. Most translations other than the KJV have "among" or "in the midst of" or similar, referring to the Pharisees' inability to recognize Jesus as the representative of God's Kingdom. Organized religions don't "talk" much about transcending simply because they lack the methods to achieve it. "The Kingdom of God is within " must the most revolutionary concept in Christianity yet is rarely or even never discussed out of fear the Church would loose it's grip on the people.
